To tell you iPads are actually good for kids

[PennyRa]

This is something I researched extensively for my thesis in technology and education. iPads, tablets, phones, they all show positive effects on their development. Yes, including social.

I've seen a lot of anti screens on here recently but there is nothing wrong with kids in buggys on tablets, kids in cafes on iPads.

There are obviously caveats, some content is bad. It's on a scale but it's easy to see; a child playing Duolingo is vastly better than candy crush, a child watching How it's made is vastly better than cocomelon. Also the content needs to be locked and monitored for safety. However, tailored content can be better than a teacher.

I’m not surprised.
I think IPADS are a tool, much like computers, books, lectures, CDS etc. it’s the content and how people engage with them that is important.

Also important to mention that many children use iPad or similar devices to communicate in ways that might not have been possible without technology due to their needs.

Not sure about that. When a friend's DS was 5 he was addicted to ipad. One day she caught him using iPad in bed when he should have been asleep. She took it off him and he started trembling from head to toe, + head jerking all over the place, because he couldn't have his iPad. Perhaps try books...

Just don't put cocomelon and the like on the tablet

Before I was a parent, I thought the anti-ipad brigade were so judgemental and old fashioned. It was surely impossible to parent without an ipad some of the time, etc etc.

Now I have kids, I’ve realised that’s bollocks for most children (the exception being SEN). My kids have an ipad, it doesn’t get turned on for months at a time. At home - they play with toys or draw/colour. In the car/buggy/cafes, they play with toys, watch the world go by or we talk to them. They are fine.

There is no way that 0-6 aged children being on an ipad for an hour or more a day is in anyway beneficial or even neutral. Their brains are being formed. Older children for educational games etc - yes. Young children - no. Also your research sounds rubbish.

We found that getting DS his iPad and having things on there such as number blocks and alpha locks has brought on his speaking and maths leaps and bounds.
I don't think it is intrinsically bad

Yeah, I was a little surprised they chose forensic science this year. I guess we'll find out how they managed to make it child friendly next week 😅

I got stuck on a train with DS today. All I had was my phone so let him play a puzzle game..he's 3 so this involved dragging and dropping puzzle pieces into an area of the screen. In comparison to the physical dexterity required to do a proper puzzle, the app was shit.

I agree tech is not binary good/bad and it’s about context and content.

However this statement I do not agree with, tailored content can be better than a teacher.

You are narrowing down to the smallest denominator to prove your argument and all good thesis’ have to include the limitations of the research 🧐 so this is post is a little disingenuous in that regard.

Really? Just seeing a 3 year old in a buggy with a tablet and only having it taken off them for a Facebook photo with the ducks then back on the tablet is lazy parenting.
Children are losing the ability to socialise and communicate. Its only going to get worse. Technology has ruined communities imo.

Wholeheartedly agree. My DC can't function without screens. I hate what they have done.
As someone involved with schools I'd also hedge a bet that the big issues coming through related to early years speech and language development could be linked to screens.

I'm a big advocate for tech - it's part of my jib these days.

iPads and other tablets have their uses with children, They can bring lots of positives when used well, with controls and restrictions but they also have negative concerns too.

In the end a tablet is simply a tool. It's how, where and when you use it that's important and what determines if it's a good one or not.

Hours of Royal Institution lectures - LOL. Honestly this is the best thing I've heard today.

In all seriousness, I too would be interested in links to some of the papers you refer to.

I don't think it's news to anyone that screens when used in structured learning can be useful and effective. I'm not convinced by your overarching claim in your first post though,

Your thesis 🤣
So, you’ve just written an essay based on a few papers… no actual analysis of your own, or even a meta analysis of those papers?
And you’re not going to link to any of those papers.

My teen has learned a fuckton from TikTok. Not even being sarcastic there 🤣
So I’m pretty pro screen time for the right child. But I’m not convinced by your “thesis”.

They have their place but they can't or shouldn't replace interaction. As part of a wider learning experience they can have some benefit but they shouldn't be the only source of learning.

I do an awful lot of online teaching and from a pedagogical perspective someone just watching a screen or a lecture isn't considered good practice.

you lost me at "kids in buggy on a tablet" sorry I absolutely do not get it!

Let the kids look around. Even if they are the stroppiest kids in the world who will scream in the buggy... let them have a strop.

But a tablet (or phone) when out and driving about? Shocking.

Yes, we have raised 3 kids, 100% in a buggy and 100% on public transport.

OTOH if you must use screens, yes it can be good but for a very short time (especially when they're buggy age)

I don’t think your ‘thesis’ is ready to be submitted if this is the best you can do

Ok, I can understand you don't want to link your own thesis.

Instead, please could you link or cite the articles or studies that you relied upon?

Someone I know, running an Ed Tech company he helped start, has just quit because every piece of research they do has shown the apps they make for the under 10s ‘learning’ apps are addictive and harmful.
Theyndonthe research mainly for R&D and marketing.
he couldn’t do it any more.
so YABU. Doesn’t matter how great the ‘content’ is, children are learn to read and write better with books, paper, play.

iPads teach them to be consumers of content, not creators.

Kids by absorbing the world around them, not with their head in a screen.
If you have a tablet at a restaurant table you’re not helping your child learn how to socialise at meals out, or behave.
if they have one on a car journey then they are missing the world around them.
if you use audio books to read to them then they’re missing out on the interaction with you, their parent.

and on and on …

Do you have kids? 😂

Find me a 13 year old who has not succeeded in getting what they want on their tablet/ youtube/ etc and I will give you a medal.

Thank you! I will look today.

As op wrote a thesis on iPad use specifically (apparently) you'd have thought they'd have researched apps extensively and have recommendations at their fingertips...

‘Hours of Royal institution lecturers yes,’

and famously this has been an surprise hit with children, they’re all watching lectures theses days.
particularly the under 8s

You think watching a lecture that you are interested in has NO educational benefits‽

What child is interested in a 'royal institution' lecture? You are projecting what an adult might find educational onto a child.

You clearly haven't a clue either about education, or technology.

I hate how much my teens are on their phones. Looking at them while they walk around. My catchphrase is "phone away please". How can it possibly be a good thing that my 14 year old spends all his time (or would if I let him) even when out, staring at some singing monsters on a phone?

I'm thankful it wasn't really an issue when mine were toddlers but I'd like to think I absolutely would not have let them have phones and tablets so young, and not in the pram when they should be interacting with the world.

Now, I've not done a thesis or anything but I do work in education visiting dozens of early years settings and the kids coming through aged 2-3 across the board are experiencing speech delay, limited play and social skills; so many that I see don't know how to play with actual toys. 2 year olds aren't talking or playing with each other.

Why?? I don't know. Im not a researcher into child development, I only know what I see. Pandemic effects, lockdown babies, poverty increasing, facilities shut down, lack of health visitors, no children's centres, no access to parenting classes. All possible reasons. But we have to consider throwing use of screens and devices into the mix. You don't have to have a PhD in child development to figure out that a child in a buggy staring at YouTube is having less social experience than the one looking around and being spoken to by the old ladies in the queue at Tesco...

Like most things, it massively depends on parental control and oversight. Playing in the park = good for development, but not so great if you just dump your small children there and leave them! Screens are the same, they're not a babysitter and shouldn't be used like that frequently. Parents should choose the content their DC are exposed to in the same way you choose their books and clothing. DC get a say, but the final decision is on you.